Domes

The largest dome in the world diametrically is that of the Roman Pantheon, 142ft.: that of the British Museum (the reading room) being only two feet short of that distance.[1]

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[1] As of 2008, the world’s largest dome in the O₂ in London, with a diameter of nearly 1,200 ft.  

Melancholy Music

How through the heart will sweep 

With hidden spell and strong

Those notes of sadness deep

That swell a mournful song!

Oh, still the charm prolong!

It touches on some tender string

Akin to pain whence pleasures spring.

‘Tis strange that so we love

Each melancholy air!

None in the choir above

In a plaintive voice will share,

All is triumphant there;

The chants on high to joy are sung,

The harps of heaven to rapture strung.

-       Bishop Mountain,[1] (First Anglican Bishop of Quebec, 1789-1863)

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[1] Jacob Mountain was a Canadian Anglican bishop, born at Thwaite Hall, Norfolk, England, in 1750.  He died near Quebec, Canada, 16 June, 1825. His grandfather, who was a great-grandson of the French essayist, Montaigne, was exiled from France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes.

Mountain was graduated at Cambridge in 1774, became a fellow in 1779, and, taking holy orders, held several important livings and a stall in Lincoln cathedral. These he owed to the friendship of William Pitt, who also procured his appointment in 1793 as the first Protestant bishop of Quebec. At that time there were only nine clergymen of the Church of England in Canada, and Quebec had no ecclesiastical edifice, no Episcopal residence, and no parsonage.

During the thirty-two years that elapsed before his death Bishop Mountain raised the church to the flourishing condition to which it afterward attained. He promoted the formation of missions, and the erection of church edifices in all the more populous townships. These latter he visited regularly, even when age and infirmity rendered so vast and fatiguing a circuit a painful undertaking. He served on several important occasions as a member, ex officio, of both the executive and legislative councils of the province, sat frequently in the court of appeals, and was a faithful and laborious servant of the public and of the crown. He attained note as a pulpit orator, and his self-sacrificing ministrations to the poor will long be remembered. He is the author of "Poetical Reveries" (London, 1777). (Source: famousamericans.net

The image at left is of his personal seal (Source: Heraldic America - pages.infinit.net/cerame/heraldicamerica)

The Threshold

Life lies before me, but shut is the door

On all of my childish days.  No more, no more

Shall I in all my years again be free

And careless—happy as I used to be.

So be it, Lord!  I know that all is right;

I would not alter it, or shirk the fight.

Shut then the door!—but leave a little crack

That when I meet a child I may slip back.

-       Barbara Seymour[1]

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[1] Barbara Seymour’s The Threshold was published in the March 1916 issue of Harper’s Magazine.  A diligent search uncovered no other references to her or her poetry.

No Bail

A man very much intoxicated was taken to the station.  “Why did you not bail him out?” inquired a bystander of a friend.  “Bail him out!” exclaimed the other.  “Why, you couldn’t pump him out.”

Remembrance

There are moments in life that are never forgot

Which brighten, and brighten, as time steals away;

They give a new charm to the happiest lot,

And they shine on the gloom of the loneliest day.

These moments are hallowed by smiles and by tears,

The first look of love and the last parting given.

-       Percival[1]

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[1] In a July 27, 1897 article in The Wisconsin Sentinel, John Burton memorializes James Gates Percival:

A man who has left perhaps a more abiding literary fame than almost any other Wisconsin writer is hardly known and remembered by many people of the state.  The man was poet, geologist, musician and linguist, and was by merit a success in all these departments of literature and art.  Brilliant as a boy; spelling and reading by the age of 5; a thoughtful writer at the age of 14; graduated at the head of his class in Yale college at the age of 20; an author of prominence at the age of 25; a friend and associate of Noah Webster at the age of 30; instrumental in preparing the scientific words for the first edition of the Webster Dictionary at the age of 33; at 39 the state geologist of Connecticut, a position which he honored for seven years; and state geologist of Wisconsin from ’54 to ’56, in which position he died in the little town of Hazel Green in the year 1856, at the age of 61 years.  This, in a word, is the record of James Gates Percival.  Upon his plain and modest tomb are engraved these words:

Eminent as a poet

Rarely accomplished as a linguist,

Learned and acute in science

A man without guile

The Wishing Little Boy

There was a Little Boy, with two little eyes,

And he had a little head that was just the proper size,

And two little arms, and two little hands;

On two little legs this Little Boy stands.

Now, this little boy would now and then be cross

Because that he could only be the very thing he was;

He wanted this, and then he wanted that;

His head was full of wishes underneath his little hat.

“I wish I was a drummer to beat a kettle-drum,

I wish I was a giant to say Fee-fo-fi-faw-fum;

I wish I was a captain to go sailing in a ship;

I wish I was a huntsman to crack a nice whip.

“I wish I was a horse to go sixty miles an hour;

I wish I was the man that lives up in the lighthouse tower;

I wish I was a seagull with two long wings;

I wish I was a traveller to see all sorts of things.

“I wish I was a carpenter, I wish I was a lord;

I wish I was a soldier with pistol and a sword;

I wish I was the man that goes high in a balloon;

I wish, I wish, I wish I could be something else, and soon!”

But all the wishing in the world is not a bit of use;

That Little Boy, this very day, he stands in his own shoes;

That Little Boy is still but little Master What-do-you-call,

As much as if that Little Boy had never wished at all!

-       William B. Rands[1]

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[1] Born in 1823 in England, William Brighty Rands published several volumes of children’s literature anonymously and contributed to various periodicals under the pseudonyms Matthew Browne, Henry Holbeach, and T. Talker. He worked as a reporter in the House of Commons and died in 1882. (Source: poemhunter.com)

Outpouring of the Spirit

For the outpouring of the Spirit every lover of the cause of truth should pray.  And as far as lies in our power, we are to remove every hindrance to his working.  The Spirit can never be poured out while variance and bitterness toward one another are cherished by the members of the church.  Envy, jealousy, evil-surmising, and evil-speaking are of Satan, and they effectually bar the way against the Holy Spirit’s working.

-       Testimonies for the Church, Vol. VI, p.42 [Ellen Gould White][1]

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[1] Ellen Gould White was born Ellen Gould Harmon in 1927, daughter of Robert and Eunice Harmon. As an adult, she became an American Christian leader whose prophetic ministry was instrumental in founding the Sabbatarian Adventist movement that led to the rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Supporters of Ellen G. White regard her as a modern-day prophet, even though she never claimed this title for herself. Support for her prophetic role is usually expressed in the language that she exhibited the spiritual gift of prophecy as outlined in the New Testament. Adventists do not consider this to conflict with the Reformation principle Sola Scriptura (“by scripture alone”) because the Bible is believed to be superior to her writings and the Bible teaches that one of the gifts to the church is the gift of prophecy. Her restorationist writings showcase the hand of God in Seventh-day Adventist history. This cosmic conflict, referred to as “the great controversy theme,” is foundational to the development of Seventh-day Adventist theology. Her involvement with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would create a nucleus of believers around which a core group of shared beliefs would emerge. Ellen White believed that at the close of earth’s history Jesus Christ would return to this earth to gather His people and take them to heaven.

White was a controversial figure even within her own lifetime. She claimed to have received a vision soon after the Millerite Great Disappointment. In the context of many other visionaries, she was known for her conviction and fervent faith. White is the most translated female non-fiction author in the history of literature, as well as the most translated American non-fiction author of either gender. Her writings covered theology, evangelism, Christian lifestyle, education and health (she also advocated vegetarianism). She was a leader who emphasized education and health, and promoted the establishment of schools and medical centers. During her lifetime she wrote more than 5,000 periodical articles and 40 books; but today, including compilations from her 50,000 pages of manuscript, more than 100 titles are available in English. Some of her more popular books include Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, and The Great Controversy. Seventh-day Adventists believe she experienced over 2,000 visions. (Source: Wikipedia)